Ravi Bopara

England|Batting Allrounder
Ravi Bopara
INTL CAREER: 2007 - 2015
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Full Name

Ravinder Singh Bopara

Born

May 04, 1985, Forest Gate, London

Age

38y 320d

Nicknames

Puppy

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Medium

Playing Role

Batting Allrounder

Height

5ft 10in

Education

Brampton Manor School

A talented, wristy strokeplayer, capable of opening the innings or batting in the middle order, Ravi Bopara was a regular member of the England set-up for several years without ever making himself indispensable. Admirers of his laid-back approach to life, and there are many, forever lived in hope that his England career would finish in a blaze of glory, but England's inglorious World Cup campaign in 2015 - and his 120th ODI cap against Afghanistan in Sydney - was where his international story ended.

Bopara believers from that point had to take their satisfaction in county cricket and, at Essex, he scored consistently enough across all formats to be in the top ten of run-scorers worldwide over the previous decade: a statistical challenge, along with his 100-plus appearances in all competitions, to those who regarded his career as unfulfilled.

In 2002, aged 17, Bopara earned a professional contract with Essex and immediately established himself as a name for the future. He made his first-team debut the same year, playing three Championship matches before being picked for the Under-19 World Cup in 2003. Three years later, his county form was rewarded with a place in England's preliminary squad for the 2006 Champions Trophy and the Academy squad to be based in Perth during the winter's Ashes series.

After impressing the selectors, he made his ODI debut against Australia at Sydney, and claimed the wicket of Mike Hussey to help England kick-start their trophy-winning campaign with a 92-run win. A fortnight later at the World Cup in the Caribbean, he showed impressive resolve and class in his maiden one-day fifty against Sri Lanka, albeit in a losing cause. He was one of only a handful of England players to emerge from that tournament with their reputation enhanced, but injury prevented him from building on his success at the inaugural World Twenty20.

Three consecutive hundreds against West Indies in early 2009 rebalanced his ledger, only for a difficult Ashes experience to again cost him his place, and he remained on the fringes of the Test side. His form in limited-overs cricket, where his medium-pace bowling is also a useful option, has been more consistent, with some of his most mature displays coming under the ODI captaincy of his Essex team-mate Alastair Cook.

Another encouraging display for England in their one-day series against Sri Lanka in October 2007 led to his call-up to the Test squad and he was picked to make his debut in the opening match at Kandy ahead of Owais Shah. It was, on reflection, a tour too soon for Bopara, who scratched 42 runs in three Tests, including three ducks in a row, and was axed the following January. But 14 months later, after flitting around the fringes of the ODI team, he seized his opportunity when Andrew Flintoff flew home from the Caribbean with a hip injury. Picked at No. 6 for the Barbados Test, he responded with a classy 104. Though omitted from the subsequent Test in Trinidad, to accommodate an extra bowler, he was recalled at No. 3 in the return series in England two months later and responded with hundreds in each of his next two innings, at Lord's and Chester-le-Street, to emulate the achievement of his mentor, Graham Gooch, in 1990.

A decent showing in the subsequent World Twenty20 confirmed Bopara's place for the Ashes series that got underway in July, but not everyone was impressed with his attitude. After mustering 105 runs in seven innings, he was dropped for the series decider at The Oval, where Jonathan Trott exceeded that tally in a single knock. Two years in the Test wilderness followed, as Eoin Morgan moved ahead of him in the selectors' thoughts, before a return as cover for the injured Trott in the third and fourth Tests against India. Bopara looked on from the sidelines in the UAE as England's batting failed disastrously against Pakistan in 2012 but first a side injury, in Sri Lanka, and then a thigh muscle tear ahead of West Indies' visit, barred him from another crack at Test cricket.

When it came, in the South Africa series after some impressive ODI innings against Australia, he quickly withdrew from the squad for personal reasons. He returned for World Twenty20 but still did not seem mentally attuned, as England meekly surrendered the title they won in 2010. His contribution in the 2013 Champions Trophy was more noteworthy, though he couldn't see England home in the final against India. Later that summer, he made his maiden ODI hundred in Dublin, but an Ashes trip to Australia (where he did not play a Test as England were whitewashed) suggested a player whose time might have gone. England's disastrous World Cup showing in 2015

Essex promised to bring him sustenance as those England opportunities faded. He was appointed as limited-overs captain in 2016 - a shortlived experience he did not particularly relish - and was also a valued signing in various T20 tournaments around the world even if England had turned to batsmen with more explosive strokeplay.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Ravi Bopara Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests1319157514331.94108752.893071260
ODIs120109212695101*30.62346277.8411420434350
T20Is38351071165*28.44599118.6903541770
FC221357401282122940.442487351.543155--1180
List A323301569845201*40.18--1560--1030
T20s46242192910610827.677435122.472467142751520

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests131043429011/391/39290.004.00434.0000
ODIs1207418601523404/384/3838.074.9146.5100
T20Is3821322387164/104/1024.187.2120.1100
FC221-1546293812575/49-36.503.6460.1430
List A323-809771972485/635/6329.025.3332.6610
T20s462331563070622776/166/1625.497.5220.3510
Ravinder Singh Bopara

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Ravi Bopara's knuckleballs were too good for Northern Superchargers
Ravi Bopara swings the ball to leg
Stephen Eskinazi was on the losing side despite finishing 94 not out
Ravi Bopara helped Sussex post a fighting total
Ravi Bopara drives down the ground
Ravi Bopara smoked five sixes in 45 off 20 balls